2nd October, and from then onwards the plan to invade
Czechoslovakia was constantly under review. On 30 May 1938 a
directive signed by Hitler declared his "unalterable decision to
smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future".

In June 1938 as appears from a captured document taken from the
files of the SD in Berlin, an elaborate plan for the employment of
the SD in Czechoslovakia had been proposed. This plan provided that
"the SD follow, if possible, immediately after the leading
troops, and take upon themselves the duties similar to their tasks in
Germany . . . ."

Gestapo officials were assigned to co-operate with the SD in
certain operations. Special agents were to be trained beforehand to
prevent sabotage, and these agents were to be notified "before
the attack in due time . . . in order to give them the possibility to
hide themselves, avoid arrest and deportation. . . At the beginning,
guerrilla or partisan warfare is to be expected, therefore weapons
are necessary . . . ."

Files of information were to be compiled with notations as
follows: "To arrest." "To liquidate." "To
confiscate." "To deprive of passport." etc.

The plan provided for the temporary division of the country into
larger and smaller territorial units, and considered various
"suggestions", as they were termed, for the incorporation
into the German Reich of the inhabitants and districts of
Czechoslovakia. The final "suggestion" included the whole
country, together with Slovakia and Carpathian Russia, with a
population of nearly 15 millions.

The plan was modified in some respects in September after the
Munich Conference, but the fact the plan existed in such exact detail
and was couched in such war-like language indicated a calculated
design to resort to force.

On 31 August 1938 Hitler approved a memorandum by Jodl dated 24
August 1938, concerning the timing of the order for the invasion of
Czechoslovakia and the question of defense measures. This memorandum
contained the following:

"Operation Grün will be set in
motion by means of an 'incident' in Czechoslovakia, which will give
Germany provocation for military intervention. The fixing of the
exact time for this incident is of the utmost
importance."

These facts demonstrate that the occupation of
Czechoslovakia had been planned in detail long before the Munich
Conference.

In the month of September 1938 the conferences
and talks with military leaders continued. In view of the
extraordinarily critical situation which had arisen, the British
Prime Minister, Mr. Cham-